A Better Lithium Ion Battery? Some Say Silicon-coated Nanonets Are a Solution

Day in and day out, the worldwide search for significant improvements to the lithium ion battery continues. With one of the best energy-to-weight ratios, no memory effect, and a slow loss of charge when not in use; the lithium ion battery has become one of the most popular types of battery for portable electronics. Still, the consensus among researchers and scientists is that there are still many ways to make the lithium ion battery even faster, lighter and longer-lasting than those currently on the market. By developing tiny scaffold-like titanium structures of Nanonets coated with silicon particles, a team of Boston College chemists believes they have done just that.

According to findings published in the current online edition of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters, the web-like Nanonets developed in the lab of Boston College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang offer a unique structural strength, more surface area and greater conductivity, which produced a charge/re-charge rate five to 10 times greater than typical Lithium-ion anode material, a common component in batteries for a range of consumer electronics,

“As researchers pursue the next generation of re-chargeable Lithium-ion battery technology, a premium has been placed on increased power and a greater battery life span,” said Wang. “In that context, the Nanonet device makes a giant leap toward those two goals and gives us a superior anode material.”

Wang and his team will conduct additional research in his lab in order to examine the performance of the Nanonet as a cathode material. And while it remains to be seen whether silicon-coated nanonets are the silver bullet in regards to the progression and development of lithium ion batteries, the relentless work of scientists and researchers such as Wang makes it highly likely that one of the most common batteries on earth will continue to become significantly better in the years ahead.